Sydney publicans refusing to sell despite multimillion-dollar offers
Cashed up hospitality moguls may be snapping up Sydney pubs at a record rate. But behind the endless stream of multimillion-dollar deals remain a small number of independent publicans who are determined to dig in their heels.
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EXCLUSIVE: They pull beers and pour whiskeys, celebrate the joys and listen to the woes of their regulars.
Colourful characters in their own right, these are the independent publicans digging in their heels in the face of multimillion-dollar takeover bids from hospitality moguls to offer an old-time alternative in Sydney’s increasingly bland modern pub scene.
Like Kazuko Nelson, who has run the historic Hero Of Waterloo at The Rocks for the past 29 years.
She says would-be buyers handing over business cards are the norm at her 176-year-old pub.
“They come in all the time and give me a number for what they would buy it for,” said Mrs Nelson, whose husband, shipping heir Ivan Nelson, bought the pub in 1988 before passing away in 2013.
“Some say it’s worth $17 million, some say $26 million. I honestly don’t know.
“I just say ‘thank you’ when they make an offer and then ‘goodbye’.
“I have no plans to sell anytime. There is still so much I want to do.”
Mrs Nelson said it is the pub’s long history that prevents her from caving in and taking a comfortable retirement.
Creaky floorboards at the Hero Of Waterloo hide trapdoors once used to shanghai young sailors in the early 1900s, while the underground cellar still has the original shackles fixed to the wall.
Then there is the ghost of Anne Kirkman, whose publican husband Thomas is said to have murdered her by pushing her down the stairs in 1849.
“Staff say to me all the time they feel someone touching the back of their neck,” said Mrs Nelson.
“I love the history so much I can’t let it go. I think it’s too important to preserve it and my husband felt the same way. There’s more to life than money.”
For those who do sell it’s not just the enticement of eye-watering payouts from big hotel franchises like Merivale and Laundy Hotels, it is also a question of succession.
Andrew Thomas, long-time owner of The Oaks at Neutral Bay, said unlike previous generations, when kids were happy to stay in the family businesses, newer generations don’t always share the same interest.
Mr Thomas followed in the footsteps of his dad David, who purchased the pub in 1975.
“Obviously the market is at its peak so that’s a big driver,” Mr Thomas said.
“But I can understand that if you are holding on to a pub and there’s no one coming through to take over then that could prompt some families to sell.
“There’s a lot of agents out there knocking on people’s doors but we have absolutely no plans to sell,’’ said Mr Thomas, who has ensured The Oaks is propped up by a string of family support networks.
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“I have no plans to go anywhere. I’m running the pub with my sister and my dad still works one day a week. We have nine nieces and nephews who are keen to come into the family business.
“So for us it’s just not an asset we would consider selling. Once it’s gone you can never replace it.”
Not even for the rumoured price tag of $65 million? “No, definitely not,” Mr Thomas said.
“She is such a beautiful pub. She was built in 1938 and we have been very careful over the years to make some changes, but nothing too drastic that would take away the gorgeous art-deco style of the 1930s.
“We’re all so fond of it. I don’t think money would even come into it.”
Another publican more than familiar with the “money factor” is Coogee Bay Hotel owner Chris Cheung.
The long-time owner of the historic beachside hotel refused an offer last year rumoured to be in the neighbourhood of $130 million.
Mr Cheung said he remains adamant about his decision to stay put — despite the overwhelming amount of “pub money” on the table in Sydney’s commercial real estate market.
In the past year alone it is understood more than $1 billion has traded hands — much of that single-handedly plonked down by Merivale boss Justin Hemmes.
Mr Cheung’s Coogee Bay Hotel is widely believed to have long been in Hemmes’ crosshairs, while Laundy Hotels scion Stu Laundy once described it as “the pub I’d most like to buy”.
“I'm holding firm — I have plenty more I want to do here,” said Mr Cheung, who has owned the hotel for 29 years.
“A lot of blood, sweat and tears has gone into this place and it means a lot to me and my family.”
However, he admits that every publican, regardless of their love for a pub, has “a number” in mind that they would ultimately sell for.
“I do, like everyone else,” he said. “But no one has ever come anywhere near it.”
And in good news for pub purists everywhere, arguably Sydney’s best-known publican Doris Goddard — owner of Surry Hills’s Hotel Hollywood — is believed to have indicated to brokers that she has no plans on ending her 42-year association with the pub anytime soon.
Originally published as Sydney publicans refusing to sell despite multimillion-dollar offers
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